iRiver H10
iRiver H10 – The Definitive Review
The iRiver H10 digital audio player is a small, stylish, simplistic MP3 player that is absolutely packed with features. The following is my review of the iRiver H10 to help you make a more informed, educated purchasing decision.
Design
When talking about the iRiver H10, the first thing you’ll notice is its stylish design. Couple that with the fact that it’s extremely lightweight and also loaded with features, and you’ve got a definite winner. It comes with 5GB of storage capacity, which should be enough to hold between 1,500 and 2,500 songs. What’s better is that you’ll actually be able to listen to your entire music library on a single charge — the battery life is a solid 12 hours of continuous music playback time, and the battery is actually removable and replaceable, which is a feature that most other MP3 players can’t claim.
Weighing in at just 3.4 ounces, this MP3 player is very portable and works great in the gym, when going for a run, or just for listening to in the car. It’s got a 1.5 inch color LCD screen which looks very sharp and displays vivid, vibrant colors. And it’s extremely thin, measuring just 0.6 inches thick so it’s easy to fit in any pocket. It’s got a nice touch strip which really adds to your convenience when choosing songs or browing through your library, and it comes in a few different colors, including Charcoal, Remix Blue, Trace Red, and Silver.
The touch pad is very responsive and tracks your movement quite precisely, which is definitely a breath of fresh air when compared to most other MP3 players. The buttons offer solid feedback, and the controls are intuitive. One thing I really like is the fact that the back button really does take you back to the last screen, regardless of what the last screen was.
Audio
Of course, the most important thing you want in an MP3 player is the ability to play quality audio. There’s no doubt that iRiver is well aware of this, because they really nailed it. The H10 offers crisp, clear sound quality that sounds even better with a pair of nice headphones. You can download music to your PC and transfer it to the iRiver H10 via the included software. It plays in MP3 and WMA format, which gives it a ton of flexibility for playing whatever audio files you want.
It’s got an onboard equalizer that comes with a whopping 40 presets, including a custom setting which I personally prefer to use. Sometimes when you’re in the car and you want extra bass, it’s easy to just slide up the bass meter. Likewise, if you’re giving yourself a headache, you can slide it down. The volume control goes from 0 to 40, which gives an excellent range of volume customization. Generally, 20 is already loud enough, but if you want to go higher than that you are certainly able to do so!
Other Features
The iRiver H10 digital audio player can actually store any type of data that you transfer to it via the USB 2.0 high speed cable, effectively turning it into a portable hard drive. This is one feature that really sets it apart from other MP3 players, which usually can’t store files that aren’t MP3’s.
The H10 has a digital FM tuner which is a truly awesome feature, in my opinion. I often get bored of my music library and it’s extremely refreshing to just be able to switch to the radio.
Another great feature is the voice recorder, so you can record voice memos. I’ve found this extremely useful whenever I get brilliant ideas that I want to write down but don’t have a pen and paper handy. You can also use it to record class lectures, business meetings, and more… you get the idea.
Finally, it comes with a skin case which fits nice and snug over the player, helping to protect it from scratches and dings. This is a great little freebie because these types of skins generally cost between $8 and $20 for iPods, so that’s a big value-add right there.
Conclusion
When you buy the iRiver H10, it comes with headphones (though I recommend buying a nice new pair to make your music sound extra-awesome), a USB cable and AC adapter, a carrying case with belt clip, the case skin, and the installation CD.
It’s a really great value for what this sleek, attractive little MP3 player offers. I highly recommend the iRiver H10; it’s a much cheaper alternative to the wildly popular iPod and it looks cooler, offers more functionality, and is just bottom-line better.
Tags: iriver h10, iriver mp3 player